City Notebook: One more time for those in the back… clotheslines are legal
By COLLIN GALLANT on June 25, 2022.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant Here’s a trick when you have to deliver bad news: Blame your boss. It really only works if there’s no reasonable chance it will ever get back to the boss, however. Which is sort of what happened this week in city council when Coun. Shila Sharps told administrators she’d received a complaint that the city’s bylaw against clotheslines didn’t make sense. What makes less sense, interestingly, is there is no bylaw against clotheslines. So, what’s up? Someone who’s fielded a number of these same sort of calls as a city hall reporter might guess that a condo board or apartment manager unwilling to defend such a foolish building policy probably hit the eject button from the conversation by saying “talk to city hall.” It’s sort of the equivalent of a car salesman taking your offer into the backroom and coming back to say, “I’d love to help you out, but sorry, my manager says we can’t make it work.” How many of us actually seek confirmation? People today have become hardwired to believe government is meddling, out of their depth or ready to light a pile of money on fire with their foot squarely in it. For proof, a number of online comments to the News “Clothesline are not illegal” story angrily asked why city hall had outlawed clotheslines. They apparently didn’t get to the first line of the story, which starts with the sentence “Clotheslines are not illegal.” As for what a condo or rental unit owner can and can’t require is somewhat debatable. They cannot bar reasonable election signs (a violation of the charter of rights and freedoms), though you may need a lawyer. They can set building and community standards. We’re in a democracy however, and condos are legal corporations. The unit owners are voting shareholders who can propose changing the bylaws. Rain, rain If the crop report or your own eyeballs are to be believed there’s no shortage of moisture this year, which is a good thing for residents of Burstall, Sask. who are on an alternating lawn watering schedule. Early morning and late evening sprinkling is allowed for odd-numbered houses on odd days, and the same for evens, until September. Violators will have their service disconnected and face a $250 fee to hook up again. On the web The city began implementing the “Digital facing” online strategy for customer service and communications in late 2021, and this week’s committee meetings revealed stats about how residents interact online with the city’s website. The “Gas City Campground” or camping in general accounted for about 1,200 searches in a period this spring, about six times as many at the next most popular terms, the garbage collection schedule and “tot-time”. (The later is a drop-in play group, and a real godsend for new parents in cold weather months). Most common unsuccessful search terms (i.e. didn’t produce a result) were led by a the proper name of a local real estate company and hotel bookings. A look ahead Council’s public services committee will hear a sub committee’s recommendations toward the Truth and Reconciliation report on Monday. The battle of the Badges (cops vs. firefighters) charity softball game is set for Sunday, noon at Athletic Park. Proceeds from $10 cash-only entry go to the Root Cellar (food bank). The last day of school is upon us soon and Friday is Canada Day. 100 years ago Hatters would wage a war against grasshoppers and the Rotary Club would help, the News reported on June 22, 1922 after a business luncheon led to a committee formed to distribute 100-pound sacks of poison and arrange teams with cars to stamp out the pest in the near region of the city. “Hatters vs. Hoppers!” a headline blared. In Ottawa, Progressive Party MPs of the west rejoiced as the Wheat Board Bill passed the House of Commons. “If it is administered in the right spirit it will … (form) the foundation of the greatest co-operative system that Canada has yet seen,” said the MP for Moose Jaw. Province of Alberta Demand Savings Certificates were attached to an interest rate of four and one-half per cent. The Snake River (Montana) Royalty Company, of Spokane, would ship its full drilling rig to explore the Many Island Field northeast of Medicine Hat Workers at the city’s flour mills were preparing for the tug of war meet that would take place on Dominion Day at the Athletic Grounds. The Calgary Exhibition promised a $30,000 rodeo and the prospect of seeing war tanks in action. A new war reparations plan should see Germany reconstruct France and build a tunnel under the English Channel, French ministers demanded. Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Contact him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com 38-37
